williamjack2

Anyone currently panning 'Joker: Folie à Deux' will be on the wrong side of (film) history...and possibly history in general. It happened with 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me' and looks like JFAD is the victim of a similar fan backlash for not being the film people wanted. I won't do a breakdown of why I found this a challenging, rewarding and moving film as I hate spoilers but I was as surprised by this Joker film as I was by the first though for different reasons. If you think you bought a ticket for a super anti-hero film, you may be disappointed and confused. If you are prepared to watch a film that follows a line of truth where the undercurrents of a relationship and distortions of media and fame interphase with mental illness you will have a very different experience. It is, at worst, a very very good film. For me, it was a great film, but sadly in the current era when people don't get what they want the toys come out of the pram. To rate it as many seem to have done - against their expectations and hopes - is human but to then dismiss it as a bad film on that basis...well I guess that's human too and we've all done it. Sadly, in the social media age negative feedback gets amplified and JFAD has suffered from the pile on. Again, a great film that I suspect will stand the test of time.

Hmmm...the summary title says it all. Not quite sure what this film is saying or trying to stimulate you into thinking about: lack of purpose in modern life, the small actions on which lasting love lives or dies, how much of ourselves do we show to each other, emotional paralysis in an atomised first world, the value of human connection above all else, is man designed to run on any other fuel than god, artistic frustration and how beautiful creation can take place as much in your living room as the main stage at the Met, people looking for a place in a senseless world instead of just getting on and helping people... On the downside the dialogue and some of the acting is of the low-burn, snail pace that can destroy any sense of mood or tension...but on the upside there are perhaps 10 moments of absolute beauty, each worth admission alone, and Miranda July is an open wound of a screen presence. And I'm still thinking about the end and all the bits in between. Personally I'm prepared to be slightly confused when I come out highly affected and thinking...